The present disclosure relates generally to exercise devices for exercising the lower body of a user. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an exercise device in which a user can use resistance training to exercise different lower body muscles by applying tensile and compressive forces to the exercise device. This type of training may allow the user to strengthen and tone targeted muscles of his or her lower body without building bulky muscles.
Many exercise devices enable a user to exercise by applying a force in reaction to a resistive force produced by the device. In one type of device, the resistive force acts only in one direction. The disadvantage of these types of devices is that the user can only exert a force in one direction against the resistive force, and therefore only a single set of muscles can be exercised at any one time.
Traditional lower body workout equipment is either intended to increase the size or “bulkiness” of lower body muscles of the user or is difficult for the user to properly use to obtain the results that the user desires. For example, to obtain certain results, a user that trains using free weights must be familiar with proper weight-training techniques to target specific muscles or muscle areas and further be knowledgeable of the proper size of weights to use. Using improper techniques and equipment can result in injury or other unintended results, such as unintentionally increasing the size of certain muscles or training non-targeted muscles.